The Haizhu branch of the eighth China Guangzhou Investment Annual Conference and the first Global Unicorn CEO Forum kicked off on Aug 30 at Guangzhou Yuexiu International Congress Center in Guangzhou's Haizhu district.

The Haizhu branch of the eighth China Guangzhou Investment Annual Conference and the first Global Unicorn CEO Forum opens on Aug 30. [Photo/WeChat account: gzhzfb]

At the event, Haizhu signed three batches of projects with 15 industry leaders, including China National Nuclear Corporation, China Telecom, and Shenzhen Duty Free Group. It also released the "8+1" industry support and cultivation policy, covering the digital economy, artificial intelligence, the building economy, urban industry, as well as high-end consumption.

Representatives from more than 100 technology companies and professional institutions, such as Cambrian, attended and learned more about Haizhu's development prospects.

In the first half of 2022, Haizhu achieved a regional GDP of 116.8 billion yuan ($16.9 billion), a year-on-year increase of 3.1 percent, ranking among the top three in Guangzhou in terms of growth rate.

Since 2021, Haizhu has attracted investment and introduced more than 200 key projects, including 12 of the world's top 500 investment projects and 18 of China's top 500 investment projects.

At the end of 2021, Haizhu had 227 industrial enterprises above designated size, which refer to enterprises that have an annual turnover of over 20 million yuan, an increase from 89 in 2015. Their industrial scale increased from 2.32 billion yuan in 2015 to 57.02 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of over 70 percent, while its proportion of the GDP increased to 12.2 percent.

Since 2015, Pazhou artificial intelligence and digital economy pilot zone has introduced 27 leading companies, such as Tencent, Alibaba, and Vipshop, which have built 28 headquarters land projects, involving consumer and industrial internet, artificial intelligence, intelligent manufacturing, online games, digital media, digital new retail, as well as digital shipping. The total investment scale of key projects has reached 86.7 billion yuan.

The Alibaba building in Haizhu. [Photo/WeChat account: gzhzfb]

By the end of 2021, there were 14 commercial buildings in Haizhu with tax revenue exceeding 100 million yuan, an increase of 1.33 times compared with 2015. Among them, the most prominent contribution was the digital economy industry, which accounted for 42 percent of the district's building industry.